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87

PSX Extreme

Chicken Run for Playstation is a visually inspired game, it features gameplay that almost feels like Solid Snake (no, not me) was the director behind the incredible product, and let me finish off by saying that the voice acting nothing short of perfection. Chicken Run is really a must have title for the Playstation, it may be the last great adventure game you play on the console.

Although Chicken Run has the makings of a great game I found the incessant tracking back and forth across previously covered ground soon become boring. I also noticed that when one of the guards discovered my wayward chicken they could be shaken off easily by simply dodging into one of the many ‘loading’ doors scattered around the farm. This meant that rather than using the sneak button I began running around out in the open like a headless chicken just to hurry the game along, which kind of ruined the objective. Chicken Run is not a bad game as such; it just struggled to hold my attention after the first few levels.

Chicken Run, then, is a very well-presented movie adaptation that leaves something to be desired as a game. Its good ideas (the stuff it got from Metal Gear) are balanced by some elements that aren't quite so fresh and interesting - I may be spending an awful lot of time hassling the developers for taking all these concepts, but the fact of the matter is that they might have actually gotten a better game if they took even more from MGS. Originality is good, but quality will get you farther in the long run, regardless of where it came from.

Comparisons to Metal Gear Solid are unjust, Chicken Run doesn't attempt to poach Konami's golden egg. It borrows ideas, but the 'Chicken Gear Solid' tagline doesn't do justice to what is a perfectly serviceable and for the most part enjoyable game. The PSone is being pitched as a children's console and young'uns who have seen the film will probably gain great enjoyment taking on the challenge of helping Ginger and her friends escape in what could be termed a launch game for the newly refined and retargetted console. While older kids will be clamoring to play with Tina's ample charms as titles like DOA2 launch the PSone's bigger brother this Christmas, those of us with a little childhood innocence about us will find the charm of the game outweighing its shortcomings for the few hours it lasts. Nothing demanding, something perhaps to ponder over for the time it takes the Christmas turkey to go down, certainly something to occupy the kids for the snooze that comes afterwards.

While those who are fans of the film might find some redeeming quality in Chicken Run, most should definitely avoid it. While it may have been aimed at a younger audience, the game mechanics aren't necessarily simple enough for the kids to grasp easily and subsequently enjoy fully. The various minigames that dot the disc are often amusing, but the game's questionable mechanics detract from its overall quality. Which is sad, as Chicken Run could have been a fun, if derivative, game.